


Will you accept this rose?

by Oursisthe_fury



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reality Show, Bachelor AU, Famous Harry Styles, M/M, One Direction Imagines
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 02:43:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4462421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oursisthe_fury/pseuds/Oursisthe_fury
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an AU where only Harry made it through the first round of X factor, his career took off after coming in second but eventually dwindled after several years as a solo artist. In an attempt to boost his popularity and bring him back into the public eye his label organises for him to take part in a major publicity stunt - to become the UK’s newest Bachelor. Harry knew when he agreed to do the show that it would be challenging, but he never quite imagined this specific challenge - the gorgeous, hilarious, charming young cameraman named Louis Tomlinson who was definitely, in-arguably, one hundred percent off limits. At least, that’s what Harry kept telling himself…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Will you accept this rose?

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction and though it is based on real concepts and people it is completely made up and has no truth to it whatsoever. Additionally, all inferences made about the filming, producing and editing of the television show “The Bachelor UK” are purely speculation and are not at all based on fact. TLDR: Not real, don’t sue!
> 
> Warnings: Slash (obvs), AU, loose moraled media, fake-reality TV. 
> 
> AN: Firstly I'm Australian nor British so please forgive the probably glaringly obvious Aussieisms that will inevitably crop up. Secondly I've neither written or even really read any 1D works but this bunny just demanded to be written so I'll try to do the fandom justice despite not really being a part of it. Any and all feedback welcomed and much appreciated :)

 

 

Chapter One: A is for Agreements

 

Harry sighed as he stepped out of the car, pausing for a moment as he glanced up at the building before him. Reluctant didn’t even begin to cover his feelings regarding the meeting he had been called in to - on his one and only day off from recording at that. He quickly felt around his pockets for his lighter, wondering if he had time to have a smoke before the meeting. _Probably better not,_ he thought to himself, wrinkling his nose at the thought of another scolding if he walked in reeking of nicotine again. His publicist just loved to remind him on an almost daily basis about how he was supposed to be a role model, and these things just didn’t look good _blah blah blah_. No, better to just avoid it all together and settle for a smoke afterwards, he decided. He would definitely need it after a meeting like what he was facing.

Being already ten minutes late and unable to procrastinate any longer, Harry finally pushed off from the side of his car with a frown and quickly headed inside. He was met in the foyer by Simon Jones’ perky young assistant, who quickly grabbed him and hustled him along the hallway.

“You’re a little late but that’s fine,” she said quickly as she dragged him along. “Just hurry on in there, Mr. Jones is waiting with a few of the execs.”

“Thanks Toni,” Harry sighed before slowly pushing the door open. Sure enough Simon Jones was already sitting around the table alongside his publicist and a couple of other Syco employees that Harry only vaguely recognised mixed in with a few completely unfamiliar faces.

“Ah, Harry!” Simon greeted, standing quickly. “Thanks for joining us today, take a seat.”

Harry sat across from him dutifully, leaning back in his chair slightly. “I suppose this is about the show then?” He asked, reluctance colouring his tone slightly despite his best efforts to sound neutral.

“Yes, yes.” Simon nodded as he took his seat. “There’s a lot to get organised, but we’re on top of it, don’t you worry. Now I know Sarah went over the main concept last week, but now that it’s all finalised we wanted to go over some of the more important details of the show.” He gestured to a man to his left, an older balding man in his fifties wearing a crisp dark suit. “This is Eric Johnson, he’s a producer on the show and he wanted to speak to you today to make sure you understand the gist of the show.”

_What’s there to understand?_ Harry wondered internally while nodding politely. _Twenty-five desperate single girls practically throw themselves at you while you date them all at the same time and systematically eliminate them one by one until there’s only one left. Not so complicated really._  
“Pleasure to meet you Harry, we’re so glad you’ve made the decision to come on our show.” His smile was wide yet it felt somewhat insincere, it didn’t quite reach his dark eyes and his flat tone contradicted his friendly words. “Now as I’m sure you’ve already been told, you will be the youngest Bachelor we’ve ever had by quite a few years. This was a deliberate cast on our part, mainly because we have decided we would like to try and appeal to a slightly younger audience. Reality television seems to be more widely watched by younger viewers and this year we would like to draw them in with a cast that’s closer to their own age - that’s where you come in. The women we have cast are all also within a few years of your age, the youngest being nineteen and the oldest is twenty-four. How does that sound?”

Harry blinked before nodding slowly. “Uh, yeah, sure. That’s fine.” He mumbled, running a hand through his hair.

“Fantastic. Now we just need to go through a few thing with you regarding how the show works. Have you seen any of our previous seasons?” Eric asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“Uh, no.” Harry shook his head. “Sorry, I’m not really much into reality TV.” He answered, feeling awkward.

“Not to worry,” Eric reassured him with another slightly fake looking smile. “You’ll be presented with twenty-four girls, all of whom will essentially be competing for your attentions on the show. Now the week to week choice of girls will be almost exclusively yours, with a few exceptions of course.”

“Exceptions?” Harry wondered with a frown.

“Ah, yes. There will more than likely be a few exceptions - by that I mean we may ask you to keep a girl in that you would otherwise have eliminated for reasons related to the show’s central storyline.”

_Central storyline?_ Harry wondered. _How does reality TV have a central storyline?_

“Of course, once we get to the top five the choice from then on will be entirely yours. We only ask you to keep one every now and then in the early episodes of the show, usually only if we believe a certain girl has popularity with the public or the potential for more interesting viewing. Does that sound okay?”

“I suppose so.” Harry replied, feeling more apprehensive by the second. He glanced over to his publicist to try and see what she was making of this only to find Sarah’s expression unreadable as she scribbled into her planner.

“Fantastic!” He said once again. “Alright then we just have a few things for you to sign relating to what I’ve just told you, and then we’ll bring in the rest of the production team for you to meet. We intend to start filming next week, so it will all be moving along quite quickly after today.” He slid a stack of papers across the desk to Harry, the words ‘Confidentiality Agreement’ heading the top of the first page. He glanced up at Simon nervously, to see him already looking in his direction.

“Why don’t you go get the rest of the team Eric,” Simon said quickly. “I’ll make sure Harry understands all the paperwork.” Eric nodded and left with the other three executives as Simon made his way around the table.

“Are you sure about this?” Harry asked once the door closed, his eyes flicking back to Sarah apprehensively.

“It will be fantastic Harry!” Sarah said quickly, her irish accent prominent. “You have no idea what this will do to your career, it will get you back in the public eye just the right time for when your album is released.”

“Sarah’s right.” Simon nodded quickly. “This is the best option. Had we managed to get the judging spot on the X Factor I might have preferred that, but this really is the next best thing.”

“It’s a _dating_ show!” Harry exclaimed. “How can this be good for my credibility as an artist?”

“It’s not _about_ that.” Simon shook his head. “You know that. This is about getting you in the public eye as quickly and obviously as possible, so that people have a reason to buy your album when it comes out. You know we all love and support your music Harry but these last two years it just hasn’t been selling like it used to. This is what we need to get you relevant again - reality TV is all the rage these days. Best of all it not only gets you in the spotlight, but it finds you a publicly known and liked partner for you to continue to date after the show, which might finally put to bed all those incessant rumours that seem to follow around any good looking young musician these days.This is the best thing for everyone, alright?”

“Not like I have much of a choice.” He muttered, turning Simon’s words over in his head. He was right about ‘ _those incessant rumours_ ’, Harry would give him that. It seemed like there was never a time since Harry’s X factor days where his sexuality hadn’t been called into question in some form or another, and a show like this probably _would_ help those rumours abate. Harry supposed he would feel better about the whole thing if those rumours had actually been false, but since they were true he wasn’t sure he agreed with such an extravagant publicity stunt. Not that management knew that, nor would they _ever_ know if Harry had anything to do with it.

“Of course you have a choice.” Simon said, his tone softening slightly. “You always have a choice Harry, no one’s forcing this on you. We just all agree that it would be a very good idea to go along with it in this case.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Harry sighed. “I already agreed didn’t I? Let’s just get this over with. What am I signing?”

Simon smiled widely, pulling the paperwork closer to him. “Let’s see, just an average run of the mill confidentially agreement - the usual, can’t disclose any details about the show and how it’s filmed, can’t disclose any show results or details before they air. Then we have a basic agreement to act as directed while filming and to stay within the rules of the show, and an acknowledgement of the producers’ right to edit footage as they see fit and use whatever footage they deem suitable for the show. An agreement to be filmed at all times during shooting hours and an acknowledgement that any and all footage shot during these times can be used and edited by the show in any way they like, and finally a media lock clause that prevents you from speaking to media regarding the show without first approval from the producers. It’s all pretty straight forward and we’ve already had our lawyers look over it for you, it’s a pretty good deal. The compensation will depend on the popularity of the season, but the minimum will be 60,000 pounds. Now you just need to sign here, here and then here.” Simon indicated, handing Harry a pen.

Harry hesitated for a moment before shaking his head, hurriedly scribbling his signature on each of the pages. “Why does it feel like I just signed my life away?” Harry muttered. Simon laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.

“Oh don’t be so morose Harry, think of all the beautiful women you’ll meet on the show!” He exclaimed, walking to the door to let the producers back in.

_Fantastic,_ Harry thought. _Just what I always wanted._

“Alright Harry?” Eric smiled as he reentered, a much larger group of people in tow that quickly filled the conference room. “Now let me introduce the team. First we have Tina Moresby, she’s an executive producer…” Harry tuned out a little, dutifully shaking hands as each person was introduced.

Suddenly he came back to attention and found himself in front of the final person, a young man with slightly messily styled brown hair who was an inch or two shorter than himself. He glanced up only to find himself looking into a pair of beautiful sea green eyes that shimmered with amusement as the other man held his hand out patiently.

“Oops,” Harry said quickly, shaking the hand he had seemingly ignored. “Sorry, I phased out for a second there.”

“Hi.” The other man laughed. “I’m Louis Tomlinson, cameraman.” His tone was warm and laidback and matched the glowing smile that he gave Harry, lips quirking slightly in amusement.

“I’m Harry Styles, singer turned bachelor.” Harry said quickly before blushing, realised how awkward and weird that must have sounded. “I mean-”

He was cut off by a light snicker as Louis shook his head. “Don’t worry, I know what you meant.” He assured him, leaning in slightly with another incredibly wide smile.

Harry blinked as their eyes met once more, his own gaze stuck on the ocean coloured orbs as they twinkled with amusement.

_Yep, he was in some serious trouble alright._

  
  



End file.
